On Target with Chromis Technology, Digium Partner

If you’re a small business owner, you know that choosing and implementing a new business phone system can be a daunting task.

To make that process simple and stress-free, you need an expert you can trust to guide you through every step of the process, and Chromis Technology is an excellent partner for just that.

Chromis Technology is a seasoned telephony consulting company and Digium reseller who provides VoIP business phone products and services. They put the needs of their customers above all else, and the service they provide to small businesses is top-notch.

They were Digium’s US Partner of the Year for 2015 and 2016, and they also served on the Partner Advisory Council. They’re dedicated to serving small businesses’ technology needs, and their track record shows that dedication.

Chromis Technology offers the following solutions to small businesses:

Digium Switchvox business phone systems

Custom Asterisk solutions

Frontnumber.com numbering and SIP trunking

Managed Hosted and SIP Trunking

Custom WebRTC applications

And their telephony portfolio includes:

Digium Switchvox

Custom Asterisk

CityHosted SIP and hosted products

Frontnumber.com numbering and SIP trunking

Modern telephony solutions using custom WebRTC programming

Get to know Chromis Technology better through this brief Q&A with Co-Founder Zach Garcia, where we asked Zach about what his small business customers are most interested in when it comes to choosing a business phone system, current business technology trends, and what he likes most about Digium.

Q: Tell us about one of your recent customers who deployed Switchvox. Why did they choose Switchvox?

A: Bullhead City School District chose to replace their Shoretel system because of Switchvox’s low total cost of ownership and robust feature set. They also saved over $75,000 by reusing their existing Polycom handsets. So not only did they save by not having to purchase new phones but they also didn’t have to retrain their users saving even more time and money!

Q: What do you like most about Digium:

A: Digium is accessible. They are a small “big” company. If we need assistance with hardware, software, marketing, whatever the issue might be, we know that we’ll get in front of the right person within the organization. If I were to call any of the most top level executives at the company they would know me.

Q: What excites you most when working with customers?

A: Sending a customer off with a solution that they can manage themselves. We give them the “keys” to the system, so to speak, and they’re in the driver’s seat. (If they want to be.) This delights IT Directors who can perform basic functions on the system without having to call us or Digium to make simple changes. Of course we (and Digium) are always here when they need us. I know that it makes people happy to not be slowed down by a system they need a specialist to work on.

Q: What are you seeing in your business? What are customers most interested in?

A: Customers are looking for a leg up on their competition. If they can do things better and faster than their closest competitor then that’s a definite competitive advantage. And even better if they can do it at a low cost (like with Switchvox). How they do this is by utilizing applications like Switchboard and integrating it with their CRM applications. Or by using Switchvox’s Extend API capabilities to integrate with other disparate systems to create an application that saves time and money. A real life example of this is a health savings administrator in which we installed Switchvox. Their agents were getting lots of calls for simple balance checks by their customer base. So we built a custom IVR application and used the API to present the balance information back to the caller. This saves on the hundreds of balance inquiries they receive each day. In the end both sides are happy, the customer got the information they needed in a safe and efficient manner, and the company now has faster engagement with customers that need to speak with an agent to tackle real issues.

Q: Having been in the industry for a long while, what are some of the biggest changes you’re seeing with customers/technology today compared to the past 5-10 years?

A: The adoption and utility of APIs (machines and applications talking to one another) is growing exponentially. BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) and IoT (Internet of Things) are also a challenge. But harnessing and managing the capabilities of these new technologies is exciting! We’re not far off from this scenario taking place: You’re on your favorite airline’s mobile app and you’re logged in looking at your upcoming flight information. But there’s a problem and you can’t fix it inside of the app. So you push a button inside of the app and your phone calls an agent. Your agent answers: “Hello Mr. Smith, I see that you’re looking to modify reservation Q84RTV83 today… I can assist you.” The point is I didn’t have to dial into a queue, enter my account number, enter my reservation number, finally get an agent, figure out that I got transferred to the wrong queue, get transferred to the correct department, reenter my account number, re-enter my reservation number… All of the context from the mobile app was provided the the agent that I called. The people who figure out how to implement this will win in whatever industry they’re in.

Q: Why do you like being a part of Digium’s Channel Program?

A: Digium puts their channel first. They don’t just talk the talk about being a channel driven company, their actions prove it. We feel like we’re not just another reseller of Digium products but rather a valued partner. They care about what we have to say and take our feedback very seriously. They truly are a pleasure to work with.

More about Zach:

Zach Garcia brings over 20 years of entrepreneurial leadership experience and co-founded his current company Chromis Technology in 2008. He has served as Marketing Director for a software startup, held sales and technical roles for companies like Avnet Technology Solutions and Allanstar Communications. After a stint in newspaper production and running a successful sports bar, Zach moved to Arizona from Wisconsin in 2005 and has never looked back. He regularly shares his thoughts on business, food, and other topics on various podcasts, social media, and blogs, mainly at chromis.com. He holds a degree in Business Marketing from the University of Wisconsin Parkside and lives with his wife Lynn, daughter Lyza and son Arden in Gilbert, AZ. Scooter the dog takes him on an occasional walk. A total foodie, you can often find him behind his smoker making up his latest batch of bacon. Follow him on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

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About the Author

Judie Powell

Judie Powell is the Channel Marketing Manager at Digium. She joined the company in 2008 and has held several positions supporting our channel. As Channel Marketing Manager, Judie is responsible for channel marketing and lead gen programs for Digium’s worldwide network of partners.